Cheteshwar Pujara scored a century while batting on Day 1 of the SCG Test, his third in the series, thus equalling Sunil Gavaskar’s tally of three hundred in a series in Australia. Captain Virat Kohli is the leader of the list with four centuries in the 2014-15 series. At Stumps on Day 2, Pujara had also faced 1258 balls in the series – the highest tally for any Test series, which had four or lesser matches. Herbert Sutcliffe (1237 balls, 1928-29) and Rahul Dravid (1203 balls, 2003-04) are behind him.

The Rajkot born right-handed batsman is the highest run-getter of the series thus far with 521 runs (at stumps, Day 2) and has spent almost 30 hours while batting in the Border-Gavaskar series 2018-19 which is equivalent to 10 T20 games. His calmness while batting is highly regarded by cricket fraternity all over the world. Former batting great Sachin Tendulkar took to his Twitter handle to praise the 30-year-old Indian batter after latter’s century in the fourth and final Test match against Aussies in SCG.

Master Blaster, who is mourning the death of his mentor Ramakant Achrekar, believes that Pujara’s form in the ongoing series has been a difference between the two sides. The 45-year-old thinks that Pujara’s ability to bat for long periods of time without any trouble is a testament to his concentration and understanding of the game.

Here’s the tweet on Sachin’s official Twitter handle

Test match batting at its best by Pujara. @cheteshwar1 has been the difference between the 2 teams for me. To be able to bat for such long periods of time is a testament to his concentration and understanding of the game. #INDvAUSpic.twitter.com/7GJmJieOAk

This series is India’s last assignment in a 5-day format before they play again in July 2019 against the Windies. So, Pujara will have a long layoff before he again takes the field for his national side.

India are currently leading the Border-Gavaskar series 2-1 with wins in Adelaide and Melbourne while losing in Perth. India will create history if it wins the series against Australia which will be its first Down Under. Currently, the team is sitting pretty in the ongoing Test match at SCG as the Aussies are trailing by 598 runs in the first innings.